Google Maps can tell you how long it's going to take you to get from a specific point A to point B. But Trulia's new commuter maps tell you how long it will take to get anywhere at all—not just to and from a specific destination.

The area maps let you drop a pin on a location and set your mode of conveyance. As you drag your mouse over to another part of town, you get an estimate as to the length of your commute. For example, it estimates that, using public transit, it should take 20-25 minutes to get from an office in lower Manhattan to an apartment in north Brooklyn. From the same Soho office, Chelsea or the Upper West Side would take 25-30 minutes on the train. Different colors reflect the total time—the idea is to calculate your commute from a potential property neighborhood—and deep red means an hour or more.

But you don't have to be shopping for property to benefit. It's useful if you're unfamiliar with a city and you're planning out how you want to travel, or, like anyone else, you're just trying to get somewhere in the fastest way possible. [FastCo]